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Jack Clark
Jack Clark (November 25, 1925 – July 21, 1988 from St. Joseph, Missouri) was a long-time announcer and emcee whose hosting duties included the game shows 100 Grand (1963), Dealer's Choice (1974-75; Bob Hastings did the first month), The Cross-Wits (1975-80), and Say Powwww (1979). He also filled in as emcee of Password (1962-63/1965), To Tell the Truth (1963), The Price Is Right (March 1965), and Eye Guess (October 21, 1966; regular host Bill Cullen and his wife Ann played as part of a celebrity week). Clark's announcing duties included Password (1960s), Split Second (1972-75, also hosting rehearsal games), Second Chance (1977), The $25,000 Pyramid (1982-85), and The $100,000 Pyramid (1985-88) among others. In 1980, he competed with other game show hosts in a special tournament on Card Sharks with Jim Perry (see photo at right). Game Show Pilots Jack frequently hosted pilots and runthroughs for little or no compensation, including Split Second (1965), The Face is Familiar (1965), Celebrity Doubletalk (1967), The $10,000 Sweep (1972), Twenty Questions (1975), Big Spenders (1975), Mindreaders (1975), Rhyme and Reason (1981), Caught in the Act (1982), and Now You See It (1985). He was also the on-location host of Second Guessers in 1969. Clark also did announcing duties on You're Putting Me On (1969), Monday Night Quarterback (1970), Twisters (1982), and $50,000 a Minute (1985). ''Wheel of Fortune Jack was the show's second official announcer, beginning on August 11, 1980 following the announced-but-retracted cancellation. Original announcer Charlie O'Donnell had left to work on ''The Toni Tennille Show, with Don Morrow filling in for the week of August 4. Clark concurrently announced on the nighttime run when it began in 1983, and is only known to have missed the ten nighttime shows of October 21-November 1, 1985 (and then only due to a scheduling conflict with Pyramid). Charlie announced these weeks, and Clark resigned from Pyramid soon afterward to avoid further conflicts. Jack stayed with both versions through early May 1988, with Charlie filling in for at least the week of May 9 and likely for the rest of Season 5. Early Summer reruns had Clark recording new fee plugs, but it soon became evident that he was too ill to continue (at least one rerun from this timespan has a very weak-sounding Jack reading the fee plugs); as a result, Pat Sajak and Vanna White read them for the rest of the Summer. Charlie continued to fill in on daytime, followed by Johnny Gilbert for at least one week. By September 5, M. G. Kelly took over as announcer, filling the role until Charlie's permanent return on February 20, 1989. Death Jack died at the age of 62 in Los Angeles, California from bone cancer and was eulogized by Pat on the Season 6 premiere (September 5, 1988) following Round 2, although this appears to have been edited in. Clark was very likely eulogized on the daytime show as well, probably around late July, although this is uncertain. Other than GSN repeats, Clark appears from time to time in syndication or on cable networks through his 1986 cameos on Wheel-related episodes of The A-Team and 227 (which involved the daytime and nighttime shows, respectively). Category:People Category:Announcers Category:Wheel of Fortune